Greetings from the Editor’s Desk!
It is my pleasure to bring you the first issue of the year 2026 – Volume 38: Issue 1 of IIMB Management Review (IMR), with key journal highlights from the past year.
It has been a privilege to welcome Professor Jagadeesh Sivadasan, Business Economics and Public Policy, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, USA and Professor Ashish Malik, Human Resource Management, School of Business, UNSW Canberra, ADFA, Australia on board the IMR panel of Associate Editors. Their rich academic experience overseas and editorial insights will undoubtedly steer the journal forward as envisioned for the coming years.
We are happy to share that 2025 saw many firsts for the journal, including the highest number of submissions and accepted articles in a year. The move to Article-Based Publishing (ABP) has significantly reduced wait time for authors and the review timeline for the journal. We reiterate our commitment to emerging research through our robust pipeline of CFP-driven and collaborative Special Issues, Invited Papers and Round Table Feature Articles.
As IMR steps up on its journey to excellence, we look forward to the support of all our stakeholders, including readers, authors, reviewers, and editors in our endeavour to raise the bar of excellence for the journal going forward.
We invite you to explore the regular complement of seven articles in this issue.
Human Resource Challenges in the Indian Armed Forces – View from the Top by Mohan Thite, Sangita De and Shweta Shah
Optimal selection of the starting lineup for a Football Team by Soudeep Deb and Shubhabrata Das
How Does Informal Competition Shape Innovation? Exploring the Roles of Labour Flexibility and Special Economic Zones in Emerging Economies by Bibek Bhattacharya, Sudhanshu Maheshwari and Ashneet Kaur
How do Organisational Routines Support User-Centred Design (UCD) Innovations?: Dynamic Capabilities Perspective by Meeta Dasgupta and Priyanka Vallabh
Integrated Programmes versus Standalone in Higher Education: Comparative Performance Assessment Using a Natural Experiment by Shivendra Pandey
Deciphering E-Tail Returns: A Multi-study Approach on the Influence of Transaction Variables on Returns by Anukesh Valase and Arshinder Kaur
Earnings Management and Cost of Newly Issued Corporate Bonds by Sowmya Subramaniam, Ranjitha Ajay and Eshan Bhargava
We are also happy to share that the new year commenced with the successful 17th edition of the annual IMR Doctoral Conference–IMRDC 2026–on the 9th and 10th of January 2026. The Conference received an overwhelming response and brought together distinguished academics, doctoral students, and delegates from across the country. Of the 114 submissions from doctoral students from institutions across geographies and allied disciplines, put through a rigorous three-step review process, 11 papers were selected for presentation at the conference. Each of the selected papers had an “exclusive discussant”, a much-commended feature at IMR Doctoral Conference, since its inception in 2009.
Anirban Mitra of IIT Roorkee won the IMRDC 2026 Best Paper Award for his paper titled “Strategic Interactions Between Service Systems and Impatient User Bases.”
Other highlights of the Conference included an engaging Keynote Address “Hyper-Digital Marketing: Six Pillars of Strategic Brand Marketing in an AI-powered World” by Professor Vanitha Swaminathan, University of Pittsburgh; and two high-value Panel Discussions: “Navigating the Academic Job Market—Directors’ Insights” and “Cracking the Code—How to Publish in Top-tier Journals”.
We invite our readers to learn more about the Conference at www.iimb.ac.in/imrdc2026/.
IIMB Management Review is a Gold Open-Access journal and offers readers free access to all articles published in the journal. We welcome you to explore https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/iimb-management-review and www.iimb.ac.in/imr/ for the current and archived issues of IMR.
Best Wishes,
Sushanta K. Mishra
Editor-in-Chief, IIMB Management Review
E-mail address: eic@iimb.ac.in
IMR Sep 2025 Issue: Video Highlight
